The Era of Bad Manners. We in the Bureaucrat Beat newsroom came to the conclusion that we would rename our time right now. From sports figures to politicians and people on the street – ill-behaved oafs, they are. Some of them, anyway.We feel the trend of foul and peevish behaviors should grow up.

Congressman Wilson’s adolescent shout-out that the President lied served to underscore the bad boy bent. Enough, already! Then, rap artist Kanye West grabbed the microphone out of the hands of a winner and blasted out his own egomaniacal view. Oh, wait a minute. Rap artist. Isn’t that an oxymoron?

We have more bad news for those of the foul fad. Your infantile drift will likely land in loserville. Though not immediately. You might rise higher, only to tumble way down low. Take ex-congressman Mark Foley. He’s the dumbhead who resigned amid allegations that he sent sexually explicit computer messages to an underage page. Now, he has a new radio show in Florida. It’s called “Inside the Mind of Mark Foley”. Yikes. Scarey. The station in Fort Lauderdale, Florida rationalized hiring Foley by saying that he’s an insider who knows the political score. Oh, please.

If we insist that shabby behavior should lead to societal prominence, where does this leave us? On the same shelf with other sleazy people. Ultimately, the public will turn from the tawdry types. Take this bit of news. According to the Pew Research Center for the People & the Press, nearly two-thirds of Americans recently surveyed believe that news stories are often inaccurate and biased. That’s up from 34% in 1985. It really does pay to stick to business.

We hear from inside sources that the California Department of Health Services can’t manage to tend to business at hand. In fact, the source said the DHS is “paralyzed” when it comes to creation of new and necessary regulations. Seems nobody wants to accept responsibility. The bureaucrats can carry out rules in place, but refuse to move on new and necessary health rules for the people. Good grief. Fire them.

Talk about cheeky behavior. How about this headline – Crisis has not altered Wall Street. Seems the greedy group just can’t let go of the chance to filch vulgar amounts of money out of the country’s financial system. Pulled back from the brink of collapse by our tax dollars, many executives in financial institutions continue their ways. According to the Los Angeles Times, Morgan Stanley has earmarked $3.9 billion for bonuses and other compensation. That’s 75% of their quarterly revenue. The Times’ story says, “…the unapologetic pursuit of money remains as deeply rooted as ever.” The same patterns that damaged our economy and hurt people. We say Congress needs to make them stop. Come on. Let’s get some regulation going here.

Closer to home, we received a call from a local postal customer who wondered why the Bishop Post Office closed its doors Saturday, September 5th. Postmaster Alisa Went said that it was a closure preceding Labor Day on Monday.

Hey, folks. All we can say is the postal service has tumbled into billions in debt. Expect less service.

Many in Inyo and Mono do not want less service at Klondike Lake. DWP allowed only limited use of the lake this summer and closed it after Labor Day. The restrictions? To keep quagga mussels out. DWP doesn’t want to pay a daily gatekeeper.

Bill Osborne, local citizen,said Klondike is a treasure and that it’s not right for the few things the Eastern Sierra has to be taken away. Osborne also questioned the lack of response by the Inyo Supervisors on this issue. Osborne said he emailed Board members for help and never heard back from one of them. He suggests that conflicts of interest may have silenced local leaders.

At least two Inyo Supervisors have DWP leases. Some may be conflicted in other ways. Good point. How many lawmakers with economic interests tied to DWP will go the distance for constituents?

We’ve mentioned this too close for comfort situation many times in the past. No one in officialdom seems interested. The compromised rarely are.

With that, this is Benett Kessler signing off for Bureaucrat Beat where we await your word on our lives in the Eastern Sierra and beyond.

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About Benett Kessler

Always interested in writing, Benett was the editor of her high school paper, proceeded to the University of Chicago and then out West where she and John Heston formed Eastern Sierra News Service in Inyo County. They fed film to KNXT in Los Angeles and co-wrote and produced the first daily radio news in the Eastern Sierra. Their work ranged from a published news magazine to the first television newscast. They continued to provide videotaped news to KABC and other news outlets. After a seat on the Mammoth Times board and work as newswriter, Benett formed her own company, Sierra Broadcasters and launched an FM radio station, now KSRW and a broadcast television station, KSRW-TV33. The latest addition - Sierrawave.net. Her company motto: Comfort the afflicted, and afflict the comfortable.